Where the Shadows Lie
by usa2z
Summary: Davis receives a pair of rings that switch the wearers' bodies. Chaos ensues.
1. The Mysterious Package

Where the Shadow Lie

Chapter 1: The Mysterious Package

POV order: Davis – Ken - Davis

"Come on!" Daisuke yelled; his thumb was slamming on the joystick. "Come on… Come on… YES!"

After what must have been the 30th try he'd finally won the race with Riku. The first ten tries or so he had charged after him down the bridge, only realizing the shortcut after falling of the ledge by accident… how long had it taken? It didn't matter. There was no way he would let his rival win with _that_ at stake.

"Looks like I'm eating the fruit with Kairi." Davis said aloud. He walked his character to speak with Riku.

"Oh that paupu thing?" Riku said. "That was a joke. You should have seen the look on your face."

"What?" Was all the player could say.

"Are you upset or something? It was only a joke."

"I really hope this game lets me kill you."

It was then that Davis' game was interrupted by the telephone ringing. He answered it. "Hello, it's Davis, erm Daisuke." He caught himself at the end. Defiantly it was better to answer the phone with his given name than a foreign nickname. It wouldn't have mattered though. He recognized the voice of a boy from his soccer team in the reply.

"Sup Captain?" He said. "I was meeting some of the team down at the park by the school. You wanna come?"

Davis had just gotten a new videogame. Did he want to put it on hold? He thought for a split second… the game would keep, but this wouldn't.

"Sure thing." The googlehead replied. "Meet you there in a second."

"See you there." The boy said hanging up. Davis left his room and walked toward the apartment's front door. As he grabbed the knob though his mother voice called to him.

"Daisuke," she said "you have a package."

The googlehead turned around. Mrs. Motomiya held out to him, amidst a pile of mail, a small rectangular cardboard box. The box had a base only slightly larger than the envelopes and a depth about half the length of his mom's finger. He took the box fascinated.

"I don't remember the last time got a package." He said.

"Did you order something on that computer of yours?" Mrs. Motomiya asked suspiciously.

"No." He replied excitedly. "It must be a gift from a friend."

His mother seemed to trust him. "Alright, but if I find anything fishy in my bank statement you're in trouble." She said. "And next time say something before you go out." She then walked away.

Davis took the package up to his room. "DemiVeemon has to be bored watching me play games all day." He thought. "I'll show him this before I go. It ought to brighten his day."

The tiny dragon was asleep in the corner when Davis returned to his room. He had been when he started the game. "Am I that boring or is he just that lazy?" He thought. The googlehead bent down and woke him.

"What is it partner?" DemiVeemon asked… seemingly he was just really sleepy.

"I got something in the mail!" Davis replied.

"What's mail?" The digimon aksed.

"Um, it's when your friends send you messages and stuff." Davis said.

"You mean like with the D-Terminals?"

"Yes actually." The human replied. "Except sometimes presents come in the mail too! That's called a package."

DemiVeemon rose to his feat, suddenly exited. "Did one of your friends send you their Digi-Egg!?"

Perhaps the D-Terminal analogy was a step in the wrong direction. "No, I don't think the package is big enough for a Digi-Egg to fit." Davis said.

His partner was puzzled. "It looks about the same size as a D-Terminal, an Digi-Eggs fit inside of them."

Davis chuckled. Obviously the tiny creature had more to learn about the human world. Still, who knows what new projects Izzy was working on? Maybe he had sent him a new D-Terminal, or something even better! The gogglehead tore off the cardboard top and found a folded piece of paper over the package's contents. Lifting up the paper he saw… something unexpected beneath.

Surrounded by felt were two black rings small enough to go around his finger. Each had rectangular red gem stones on top, the long sides sticking off the ring itself. This did not look like Izzy's work. He did not know whose work it looked like at all.

"What's in it Davis?" DemiVeemon asked.

"Some kind of rings." Davis said puzzled. He set the box down so that his partner could look inside. Fascinated, the blue dragon lifted one of the rings in his arms and began to examine it. Davis turned his attention to the folded paper. Unfolding it he found a note written on the inside. He began to read.

"To the worthy recipient:

The rings enclosed are my gift to you. Any two people that put on the rings will switch bodies."

"No way!" Davis thought, but he kept reading.

"This effect will only work once every 24 hours. Attempts by any two individuals to use the rings within this time will fail. As a reminder of this, the jewels will automatically rotate 180 degrees after a switch. Any attempt to switch with the jewels in this position, even after 24 hours, will fail. This allows the rings to be worn as jewelry without risk of an unwanted switch. The jewels can be rotated manually at any time, however returning them to their initial position within 24 hours of a switch will not enable switching prematurely. "

"What does it say?" DemiVeemon asked. Davis looked down to see his partner staring up at him

"Apparently if you wear the rings you switch bodies." He said giggling. Still curious he kept reading the letter.

"Information associated with language is left behind during switches. This means that someone in another person's body will be able to speak, write, and understand any languages the other person could and no others. They will also instinctively speak in whatever dialect the other person naturally spoke and will only be able to convincingly replicate dialects the other person could."

"Yeah, this is total crap." Davis thought.

"Awesome!" DemiVeemon yelled. "Let's try it!"

Davis was surprised. "Really Veemon?" he said.

"Come on Davis! You know it will be fun!" His partner replied.

Davis decided to humor him. "Alright." He picked up the other ring and slipped it onto his finger. DemiVeemon attempted to slide the ring he was holding over one of his arms, but it fell to the ground as he weakened his grip.

"Um, could you help me please?" He asked.

"Sure thing buddy." Davis said as he bent down to pick up the dropped ring. Still bent over he slid the ring over his partner's arm, and then, for the next split second, his vision went black. He tripped and felt his back hit the floor.

As sight returned to him the goggle-head could not believe what he saw. Dominating his view was a white torso with scaly blue limbs poking out. One of the limbs was half covered by a monstrously large black ring. He clinched in shock, and the scaly limbs moved at his command. He looked up and saw his own standing body towering above him, looking down with a smiling face. "You see, this IS fun!" It said. Davis looked back down and saw the blue and white body he now recognized as DemiVeemon's. He lifted "his" fingerless arms to his face and felt the rough scales angst soft flesh. He couldn't believe it… they really had switched bodies.

"I…" "this…" He stuttered.

"You okay partner?" The newly made human asked. It sounded deeper than Davis remembered his voice to sound.

"I… I'm just really shocked." The shrunken boy said. The words sounded MUCH deeper than the high squeaky voice he remembered of DemiVeemon. "I didn't think that would work."

"Why not?" DemiVeemon asked.

"Stuff like this just doesn't happen in the real world." Davis said. "Are you telling me it happens in the Digital world?"

"No," DemiVeemon replied. He appeared to begin thinking. "I don't think I've ever seen it happen in the Digital World either, but then again I've only spent one night there out from under my Digi-Egg…"

Davis looked at the ring… no not a ring; on DemiVeemon's body is was more of a large armband. Whatever it was, he noticed the red gem had turned; the long sides where now lined up with the ring itself. He remembered what that meant.

"We can't switch back until this time tomorrow…" He murmured.

"What's the matter partner?" DemiVeemon asked.

"This is freaky." The former human said. "This isn't what I'm supposed to be. How are you so okay in such a different form?"

"I take a different form twice every day." The former digimon replied. He seemed puzzled that he was even having this conversation. "Is it the size change that bothers you? It is kind of a bummer shrinking down when I come to the real world…"

"Humans just don't change like this." Davis said. "For us it should take years to change size not seconds, and it should only go one way."

"That's boring." DemiVeemon replied. "Come on Davis, don't tell me you've never wondered what it was like to be a digimon. I know I've wondered what it's like to be human."

His partner had him there. Davis had indeed wondered what it was like to be a digimon. Most of the creatures he'd seen had been superhuman in power. Who hadn't fantasized about being able to fly or having super strength? Heck, it seemed more natural for a digidestined to wonder this than anyone else. Everything special they had done, they'd done through their digimon partners. How could they be so close to such power and not long for a taste? The change still creeped him out, but now he just had to have that taste.

"You're right." Davis said. "We go into the digital world tomorrow right? I think I am going to like doing digimon things."

"Awesome!" Came the reply. "I know I'm going to enjoy doing human things." There was a pause. "What are those?"

Davis chuckled. "I was going to play soccer in the park a minute ago." He said. "Do you know how to get to the school? It's right that way." He wasn't prepared for the reply.

"What's a park?" DemiVeemon asked. "How do I play soccer?"

…

It was then that it dawned on him just _how_ little the dragon had seen of this world. If he wasn't fighting in the digital world he was sleeping in his room… Wow… He really needed this switch didn't he? Any doubts the former gogglehead had about it melted away.

"Soccer is easy. You just kick a black and white ball into a net where the other team is while they try to kick the ball toward a net where your team is." He said. He knew the game was much more involved than that but he didn't want to discourage his partner. "As for the park it's that green field with the nets we pass by on the way to school. Do I need to explain how to get there?"

"Oh that place? I can get there fine." DemiVeemon said. "I see all the stops you make on the way to school from that hole in your bookbag."

"There's a hole in my bookbag?" Davis asked.

"Yeah, right next to that brown stain on the inside." His partner said… When did that get there? No matter, by now the team was probably waiting for him.

"You sure you can make it on your own?" HE asked.

"Positive. Anything else I should know before I leave?"

"Not that I can think of." Davis said. "See you later."

"Seeya" his partner turn toward the door. He stared at it for a second and started fumbling with the knob.

…

"Do I have to explain how to open doors?" Davis thought

The door clicked open before he could say anything. The former human could swear he heard his partner squee with delight. As he walked out the door Davis though "How worried should I be?"

The first big worry came once DemiVeemon was out of earshot. He hadn't closed the door when he left, giving his family an easy view into his room. They could see his bizarre package and him in his new body. He walked behind the door and began pushing. It moved… slowly.

"Come on!" He said grunting. He pushed harder and the door sped up, and then clicked shut.

Davis took a deep breath… Had he just struggled to close the door? How could a digimon be weaker than he was? He'd seen these things burst though rock walls in the digital world. What level where those digimon? Champions? Is an in-training that much weaker? Did Veemon gain and loose that much power every day?

"Being a digimon is crazy." He said outloud.

Whatever… time for "digimon things." What did DemiVeemon do why he was away? Sleep. Sleep sleep and more sleep. He did feel really tired…

"I could sleep as a human." Davis said disappointed. "There has to be something else…"

He looked over toward the TV. It was still on, as was his game consol. The controller was on the floor… He looked at his stubby fingerless arms… He could play games as a human too, but somehow it seemed more interesting like this.

He walked up to the controller and pressed his arm against the joystick. Sure enough his character moved, just as if he had used his old thumb. He found his other arm could press the buttons just as well too. He couldn't pick the controller at the same time as either of those things, but it seemed he was small enough to look up at the TV and not have to hold it. The heartless came, the keyblade appeared, and then the heartless fell just like they had in the tutorial… okay not quite that easily. This method was still kind of awkward to someone who had gamed with thumbs all his life, but hey this game was new, no built in reflexes to work against. Riku sank into darkness and the giant heartless appeared…

It was then that Davis realized that the soccer team was already gathering before he was called. Wasn't he the captain? Shouldn't he have been called first? Had the team lost all respect for him? He knew he hadn't given the team as much attention as before he became a digidstined, but they'd never seemed upset about it before. Were they talking behind his back? Now they would see his body play with the skill of someone who didn't even know how to play the game this morning… He would be a laughing stock. Would they want a new captain? He couldn't let that happen! NO! He couldn't lose the team he'd inherited from Tai!

Then the heartless killed him… he needed his head in the game with this body…

"What do I care if they pick a new captain?" Davis said as he reloaded. "I'll just switch with him and it'll be like nothing happened."

He was joking with himself. They couldn't they replace him that easily. After he blocked Ichijochi he couldn't see them wanting to anyway. He might have face to make up after they saw DemiVeemon play, but surly it was nothing he couldn't do with a little extra work. Nothing to fear. Still, it did make him wonder. If he were to permanently switch with someone who would it be? The prime minister? Michel J Barton? Tai?

Davis laughed. "Like I could ever be Tai!"

Really he couldn't image taking on the new responsibilities any of those options would require. Getting bigger didn't seem so bad after being smaller now. A new name would be easy too. He'd more or less changed names amongst his friends anyway after he saw that Barton movie and took his English nickname. He was still happy in his life though, he wouldn't give it up so easy.

"I wonder what Veemon would think?" He said as his character reappeared on Destiny Island. "I'll ask him when he gets back."

He had thought enough. All of the heartless he encountered died, including the giant. Somewhere in Traverse Town, however, his new body's demand for rest got the better of him and he fell asleep right there…

….

…

…

…

…

…

The sound of his alarm woke him. He reached over for the snooze button and felt… what?

Davis then realized he was lying forward on top of a giant PS2 controller. He stepped back in shock and saw scaly blue arms in the corner of his eye. On one of the arms was… oh yeah.

He looked over toward the bed and saw his own body turn off the alarm. "Mourning partner." DemiVeemon said.

"Mourning Partner." Davis repeated.

It was real. He had thought it was a dream, but he was really DemiVeemon… This was going to be an interesting day.

DemiVeemon got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. He opened the door and stepped in… this was going to be an awkward morning… might as well run with it. Did Davis need to go too? He didn't feel he needed to. A body as small as DemiVeemon's didn't need to eat or drink a lot, and all the sleeping he did made him need even less food and water, so he didn't have to go often. It was good for both of them. He still remembered having to figuring out how DemiVeemon would use a toilet twice as big as he was when first got here. They found Davis would have to hold his partner over the toilet while he released himself. It was awkward enough to do that for the lizard… to ask his partner to do it for him? That was to embarrassing for the former human to think about

DemiVeemon stepped out of the bathroom and asked him a bizarre question "Um, how do you digivolve?"

What?

"Humans don't digivolve?" was all Davis could say..

"Yeah you do, like when we go to the digital world." The naïve human said. "I digivolve to then but I don't when I go in there. How do you do that every morning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Davis said.

"You go in there every morning and come out different looking. How do you do that?" DemiVeemon asked.

Different looking? Wait… was DemiVeemon wearing the same clothes that he had on yesterday afternoon? He didn't know how to change clothes... Of course he didn't. How would he know that? Did he care to explain?

"Nevermind, we don't need to look different today." Davis said. No one would notice him in the same clothes to days in a row right? The conversation was already too awkward to continue…. Wait a minute? If he didn't know that how had he gone to the bathroom on his own in his body? They ad been switched half a day now. Had DemiVeemon wet himself in his body? Had he done it in front of the team? Did he dare ask?

Davis smelt his partner as best he could. He smelt clean. That meant he hadn't done it right?

"You did use the toilet okay last night right?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, perfectly." DemiVeemon said. "The guys on your team explained it well."

"What?"

"I asked the guys on your team how to use the toilet as a human and they were happy to explain." The naïve human said. "They laughed the whole time."

Davis would have much, much more face to make up with his team than he thought.

He stared at his partner for a few seconds. "You okay partner?" DemiVeemon eventually asked. "Did you get something in your eye?"

"It's not his fault." Davis whispered himself. He told his partner. "I'm fine. Do you know how to get to school?"

"Yep" the former dragon announced excitedly. He walked to Davis' bockbag and picked it up. "You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

DemiVeemon picked him up and placed him inside. He took the ring from his arm as he did.

"I don't know about you but that ring looks ugly on my arm." The former digimon said. He sliped the ring off his own finger and set both inside the bag with Davis. He looked at the zipper. "I just do what I did to open it in reverse to close it right?"

"Yes." Davis replied. Everything went dark as he did… expect for one tiny ray of light. He walked toward it and found a small hole roughly the size of his new eye. Looking through it he saw his room… then his hallway… then the yard. He looked back into the bookbag… Yeah he'd defiantly rather look at the scenery than stumble in the dark. No wonder his partner knew the way so well. He realized as they approached the school that DemiVeemon had been carrying the bockbag in his hand the way there. As if he could hear his thoughts Davis felt the former dragon lift up the bag hold it front of him for a second then place it correctly on his back. He must have been mimicking what the other kids were doing. He walked through the hall then sat in, what hopefully, was Davis's desk. Davis could see another kid sitting at a desk through the whole.

"That must be how he knew to sit at a desk." Davis thought. How did he know which one?

He didn't within the minute he heard another student complain about "Davis" being in her seat. He felt him pick up the bag and take him elsewhere. Another kid made the same complain within the next minute and guided "Davis" to the correct seat.

He heard the teacher begin lecturing soon after that. DemiVeemon was stuck sitting through history instead of him. It was finally something to be grateful for. It didn't take much feeling around to find his Gameboy in the bookbag, it was half as big as he was afterall. He flipped the switch and the machine turned on. Now to angle himself right… oh come on… Davis quickly found he could mash the buttons well enough with DemiVeemon's arms, but they were just too short and the machine to big for him to be able to press the buttons and view the screen at the same time.

"At least I'm getting out of school." He thought, switching it off. "Half the time I sleep through history anyway, I'll bet it's easier in this body."

It was very easy…

…

…

He felt a hand touch him. Opening his eyes he saw his own body looking down at him, digivice in hand.

"Wake up partner!" DemiVeemon said. "It's time to go save the digital world!"

This time he was not surprised. His partner set the bookbag down on the floor and opened the zipper all the way. Davis looked around. He was in the computer room… had he slept through the whole school day? The other kid's digimon were all around him. Seeing them up close like this was… unnerving. Among them were, after all, a flying pig and a disembodied head. He'd gotten used to them at his own height, but now that they were as big as he was… heck even Piyomon and Gatomon were kind of scary. Hadn't he gotten used to seeing giant monsters as a digidestined? It shamed him to think not.

He looked up and saw the other children. This was much easier. Being a kid he was used to seeing adults tower over him, and by now he'd gotten used to his old body doing it. Admittedly it was weird to see Cody this way, but it wasn't at all frightening. There was one pleasant sight, in fact, that outweighed all his unease: Kari.

"My god," He thought, "She's even prettier than before."

Maybe it was like how everyone seemed to like older kids or adults. She sure looked like an adult from this height…

"I think everything was already worth it."

"What did you say, DemiVeemon?" Kari asked.

Had he said that out loud?

"Erm, nothing," Davis quickly replied. "You ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." She said. She held her digivice to the computer.

"Digiport open!" She yelled. The others held their digivices up as well and in a flash, they were off.

The world was slightly smaller to Davis then. The human kids were still bigger than him, but not by as much. He knew he had digivolved into Veemon. He moved his fingers… it was nice to have them again. The other digimon were still the same size as him but they were less monstrous in their Rookie forms…that comforted him too. Hills of sand were all around them. DemiVeemon was now warring Davis's digital world clothes… he was looking at himself in curiosity.

"Davis, what are you doing?" Yolie asked.

"Aw nothing." DemiVeemon said stopping abruptly. "Where are we going?"

"That way." Cody said pointing away. The group looked that way and saw a control spire in the distance, a road in the sand went that way. Nothing happened to them as they followed it toward the spire.

Davis and his partner walked in the back. They, Davis in particular, were still fascinated by their new bodies and didn't want to attract attention from the others. The former human began flexing his muscles… they defiantly looked bigger than what he'd known as a human, then again they were on a smaller body… Was he superhuman now? He felt stronger than he remembered… Could just be wishful thinking? Could he wrestle his humanized partner without everyone asking a million questions? Probably not.

The road soon reached a hill. From its top they could clearly see the control spire and the slaves the Digimon Emperor had left to defend it. A few hundred yards away there was a dinosaur with heads on its arms and seven or eight ghosts… Oh dear… He had seen those ghosts before.

"Bakemon" TK said. "Looks like eight of them."

So that was what they were called… He wished they weren't there.

"Anyone know the three-head that's with them?" Kari asked.

"Deltamon." Gatomon said. "They were never seen at all before the digital world rebooted. Still extremely rare. They're also tougher than most champions."

"Can we take it and all the ghosts?" Yolie asked. "We're outnumbered almost two to one here."

"Dark rings don't work without the control spire." Cody said. He turned to his partner. "Do you think you can sneak up and destroy he control spire as Digmon?"

Armidilomon paused for a moment. "I think I can, but I'll need a distraction," He said looking up the Bakemon "specially for them flyin' ones."

"Distracting them will be easy." Gatomon said. "Three of us in the air should be enough to give them a good fight." She glanced at Patamon and Hawkmon and both nodded in agreement.

"That just leaves the Deltamon." Yolie said. Everyone looked at Davis… 'You up for it Veemon?" Kari asked.

Davis looked at the Deltamon… it was easily the most monstrous creature he had ever seen. Somehow though he didn't fear it like he did the Bakemon. In fact he felt relieved to fight it. He knew why. Davis had first seen Bakemon when they kidnapped him and his family. He knew it wasn't these Bakemon though, they're slaves. He should pity them right? That was the feeling he'd adopted for all of Ken's other slave monsters, sometimes even the ones that attacked him. This fear shamed him more than any he'd felt that day. As ashamed as he felt though, it seemed to work out.

"I've got the Deltamon." He said.

"Great." TK said. "Everyone ready?"

They all noded.

"Then it's settled." TK said. "Digiarmor energize!"

"Patamon armor digivolve to Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"

Kari Yolie and Cody joined him. 'Digiarmor energize!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Armidillomon armor digivolve to Digimon, the Drill of Power!"

"Digiarmor energize!" DemiVeemon yelled out. Before Davis could think he was shouting too.

"Veemon armor digivolve to Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"

He had not felt the change from DemiVeemon to Veemon, but this he defiantly felt. It was as though his body had become fire, yet he did not feel pain. He stretched out as the fire grew then he was solid again. He felt bigger, and much, much stronger.

All of the armor digimon moved out. Davis leapt from the hill and was halfway to his opponent in one jump. Deltamon looked up at him but could not react before he was upon him. Davis landed a kick in the middle of the monster's head. The slave almost fell backward but it caught itself after a couple of steps. It lunged forward at Davis.

A deep stractchy voice from its snake headed arm. "Serpent Bite!"

The snake head lunged at Davis easily jumped back and dodged it.

"Fire Fist!" Davis yelled and a burst of fire shot from his arm. It struck Deltamon and the monster fell on its back. He leapt forward above the monster.

"Triple Force!" the monster said as purple lightning gathered in each of its mouths. The lightning shot toward him.

"Fire Rocket!" Davis yelled as fire surrounded him. He split the lightning as he shot through it and struck the dark ring. The dark ring shattered then the monster was quiet.

It was the most excited Davis had ever been.

"Gold Rush!" Came Digmon's voice and the control spire fell. Davis looked up and saw the Bakemon stop in their tracks. His friends attacks stopped immediately. The ghosts looked at each other in confusion. "Wha, what happed?" One of them said.

"You were under the control of the Digimon Emperor." Davis said "We just knocked down the control spire."

One of the Bakemon floated down to him. Davis raised up his arms about to fire at the ghost.

"Thank You." It said. Davis lowered his arms.

"You're welcome." He said.

The Bakemon stretched out his arms. "Hug?" It asked

Davis hesitated…

"Okay." He too spread out his arms and the Bakemon embraced him.

"He… he feels like a marshmallow." Davis thought. He returned the embrace. "I'm sorry I was afraid of you." He didn't think he was anymore.

Pegasusmon broke their dark rings and the Bakemon were on their way, Deltamon soon after them. The armor digimon regrouped with their partners and changed back to rookie.

"Great to look down on you TB." Davis thought. His rival was in his eye right before he shrank down to Veemon.

"Well done everyone!" Kari said. It made Davis happy.

"Thanks." He said.

Davis couldn't help but think back to the fight as they walked back to the portal. He had leapt what must have been at least a soccer field in one jump and knocked a building size monster onto its back. He was happier with himself now than he ever had been. "We have to do this again." He thought. He didn't care about Veemon's mistakes anymore.

They reached the portal and returned to the real world. Once again Davis was DemiVeemon. He looked around and saw the other digimon… they didn't frighten him at all now either. He was too happy for that.

DemiVeemon was about to put him in the bookbag when TK spoke up.

"Hey guys," he said to the group "you wanna come to a party at my place this Wednesday? It's my birthday."

"What a great way to ruin a party." Davis thought.

The rest of the group reacted better. "Awesome TK, happy birthday!" Kari said. "I'll gladly go."

Of course she was the first one to speak… ugh.

Yolie and Cody said similar things quickly.

"Happy birthday!" DemiVeemon said. "I'll go to." After all that happened yesterday Davis was surprised his partner knew what a birthday was. Was he happy for TK or was he trying to mimic what everyone else was doing? Either way he'd just sent him to celebrate TK… Maybe he could even send DemiVeemon in his body instead… Wait was he inviting the digimon too?

As if on cue Poromon asked "Can we come?"

TK frowned. "I dunno. Tai didn't think we should let our parents know more than they have to. I never did tell mom or dad about you new digimon…"

"I understand." Davis said seizing the opportunity. He looked to his partner. "You can have my fun for me."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive, the less humans know about us, the better." Tai had told him something like that when he became a digidestined. He loved it now more than ever.

Poromon looked sad. "Okay" he said softly.

Now Davis felt guilty… no it was how it had to be. Tai had said it and everyone else agreed. The less people know about the digital world the better.

"At least I'm out of TP's party." Davis thought… "Wait I still have to buy him a gift if DemiVeemon is gong don't I? Crap." DemiVeemon didn't seem to catch his meaning earlier anyway… "Looks like I might as well go... free cake."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The digimon emperor sat glaring at a map on his computer screen. His next attack would reciquire considerably less planning than what he'd just done, but planning it still required. Even if it wasn't plan A he **had** to have a better partner than Wormmon.

"Master," As if to spite him the pathetic creature chose then to annoy him. "uhm the other kids may uhm, have destroyed another control spire."

"Duh." Was all the emperor said in reply. Sacrificing one area was unfortunate but inevitable; he needed time he had already spent. Besides, he could always just take the area back later. If anything the thought of spending more time with his worthless parents was the real sacrifice. Having to follow the orders of those nagging idiots sickened him, but the payoff, oh the payoff. If this last move went right it would not only sabotage his enemies but make his own reign eternal.

"Master?" Wormmon said.

"Leave before I find the whip."

That was all he heard of him that day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Davis stepped out of the bookbag unto his bed. "What a day!" he said.

"You said it." DemiVeemon replied.

The former googleboy looked at the clock. More than 24 hours had passed since the switch.

"Can we stitch back now?" He asked.

"Aw come on Davis." His partner replied. "I had a great time learning about your world. I know you were having fun fighting as Flamedramon. Don't you wanna do it again."

"I honestly do." Davis said. "But I have things I need to do in that body. We can always switch another time."

"That is true." The former dragon said. He picked up the rings. "Next time can we swap after coming back from the digital world?"

"So you can still be Flamedramon but then be me instead of DemiVeemon?" Davis had actually hopped for the reverse.

"Yes." The former dragon said.

"Maybe." Davis would probably allow it. He really did want his partner to see more the real world. "Just so long as you don't want to stay in my body forever or anything."

DemiVeemon slipped the ring onto his finger. "No offense Davis, but I wouldn't want to be human forever." He slipped the other ring onto his arm. There was a second of darkness, then Davis saw his tiny partner standing on the bed. He lifted his hands to his face to be sure… flesh on flesh. He was himself again.

"No offense taken." He said. The talk of permanent switches had reminded him. "Out of curiosity, if you were going to be someone else forever and you could pick who, who would you pick?"

The digimon's reply as immediate. "Patamon."

"Patamon?" Davis repeated. "Why him?"

The dragon blushed. "I think I love Gatomon. She… she clearly likes him tough. If I were in Patamon's body I wouldn't regress to in-training when I returned to your world… and," just speaking the words excited him "I could have her."

That was not the answer Davis expected… "We have the rings." He said. "Would you actually like to do that?"

The dragon thought for a second. "Only if you come with me."

"If I come with you?"

"You like Kari don't you?" DemiVeemon asked. "Switch with TK when I switch with Patamon, then we can be with Kari and Gatomon together."

"No." Davis said. He couldn't do it. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing TK in the mirror.

"We don't have to do it forever." DemiVeemon said. "Don't you want to go out with Kari just once?"

That was temping… Nom he still couldn't do it. Speaking to his partner he said "If I go out with Kari as TK once she'll keeping going out with him when I switch back…" then an idea came to him

"…unless I made her hate TK while I'm him." The more he thought about it the crazier it seemed, but the more he liked it.

"You wanna do it?" DemiVeemon asked.

Davis thought for a minute. "I think I do." He finally said.

"How do we get them to wear the rings?" The dragon asked.

The gogglehead thought some more… Could he really do it? … Should he really do it… Maybe… Yes. TK deserved it.

"I think I know exactly what we're giving the boy for his birthday."


	2. Rebirth

Chapter 2: Rebirth

POV order: TK – Davis – TK – Kari – Davis

The angel was in heaven, the spirits of trees all around him. He flew through the tree spirits on his white dovelike wings, the sword of kings seethed on his waist. He flew he saw another angel in the distance, a woman with a halo of twelve stars was around her head. She flew toward him, into the ghostly forest, something terrible behind her.

"Help me oh knightly angel!" She yelled to him. "For the dragon seeks to devour my child!"

Then the terrible thing came into easy view of the angel: a hideous dragon flying toward her as fast as he could on his leathery bat wings.

"Halt oh royal mother!" the dragon cried "halt and be eaten with the whelp inside of you!"

The angel drew the sword of kings and it was engulfed by holy fire. He flew past the royal mother and charged her pursuer. He dragon blew forth a stream of black fire, but the angel dodged it easily. He reached the dragon, and with one slash of his firey sword the dragon's wing was severed. It roared in agony as it fell from heaven toward the Earth below.

"Praise to you my angel." Said the royal mother. She embraced him in her arms.

"I have only done my duty." The angel spoke. They then shared a passionate kiss.

The sound of TK's alarm woke him up. He shut it off and got up. Normally he preferred dreams to waking, waking was followed by school after all, but today was a different.

He walked out in the hallway. A woman was there, not the royal mother of his dreams but his real mother.

"Happy birthday TK!" She said. "I made your favorite breakfast."

"Thanks mom." TK replied. They began eating together.

TK and his mother were usual in his country, they were both Christians. Daughter of a French missionary and a Japanese convert it was inevitable Ms Takaishi would be raised that way, and with TK's father out of the picture, it was inevitable he would be raised that way as well. They were, however, they only ones of their faith they really knew. TK felt that gave them a closer relationship than most mothers and children.

She finished before he did. "I need to get some work done before I take you to school." She said rising.

"Okay." TK said. She left and he began to finish on his own.

He thought back to his dream as he ate. He had become more devout since his first return from the digital world; he thought it was a consequence of literally acquiring a guardian angel. That devotion had its own consequence. Though rare, it was not unheard for him to have dreams with images from the Bible. This particular dream was strange though. When such dreams occurred it was usually on Sunday nights, after worship. Some variation of this dream, however, had come not only on Sunday night, but Monday and Tuesday night as well. Why was that? Apparently something about that sermon had resonated with him… Did he have some reason to dream of defeating a dragon and getting the woman it perused?

"It's the plot of every fantasy novel." TK said laughing to himself.

That was probably it. The more he thought about it the more since it made. Everyone had dreams influenced by the media. He was dreaming of being a knight and rescuing a princess. What else would you call a "royal mother" after all?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Davis found it almost strange to see his Rookie partner in the real world. Even stranger was the coffee pot in his hand.

"You sure you can hold this form for 24 hours bro?" He asked.

"I kinda need fingers if I'm going to put the ring on without you." His partner said.

"It's might be more than 24 hours actually," Davis said "if TB doesn't take off the ring until after then."

"That's why we took the whole pot." Veemon replied.

Davis remembered what Izzy had guessed about the digimon regressing to In-Training in the real world. He said it was to conserve energy. Looked like he was right, a little coffee and the blue dragon had fingers again. Mom and Dad were going to be furious when they found out he'd taken the coffee maker… At least he wouldn't be the one to hear it.

"Save the next drink until after the time limit is over." Davis said. "No need to hold this form in the mean time."

"Good idea!" Veemon said. He hid the pot under the bed. "You sure you can get Patamon to where the other ring by then?"

"Positive." The gogglehead replied. "I'll look like his partner after all."

He turned to the door. "It's almost party time." He said. "See you when it's over."

"See you then." The dragon replid.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled as TK blew out the candles.

"Thanks everyone."

Most of TK's friends and family had amassed at his apartment. They all sat together around a long composite table. The birthday boy sat on one end of the table, cake before him and a pile of presents on his left side. His brother and parents sat closest to him. Beyond them were the other digidesitned sans faraway Mimi.

The cake was quickly eaten. Tai and Kari were the first to finish. Both of them loved it much more than what their mother had severed them on their birthdays, or most any other time. TK guessed as much as he finished his next. The thought of presents after the cake hurried his consumption. How strange, he thought, that Davis was right behind him...

"He must really want me to open presents." TK thought. He then laughed internally. "Nah Davis hates me; he just really likes food." This made him curious, however, what had Davis gotten for him? "Will rubber snakes explode from the box when I open it?" When the others finished their cake he went straight for Davis's gift.

He did not find rubber snakes as he opened the box. Instead wrapped by velvet he found… a ring?

"Why yes Davis," he said picking up the ring. "I do!"

"Ha, ha, TS" Davis said. "I thought a valuable gift would be great help with a new friendship like ours."

Jokes aside TK was flattered by the gift. He examined the ring more closely as he slid it on. The gem looked like real ruby, though he thought that did clash with the blackness of the ring itself. "It looks like a gothic wedding ring." He thought further. "Yeah, I'm not wearing it again. It might be worth something resold, though." He then saw Kari in the corner of his eye. "Or maybe regifted."

"Thank you Davis" he said, moving on to the next present. The googlehead smiled.

"You're very welcome." He replied

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kari and her brother were the last to leave the party, even after Matt and his father. Tai had volunteered to help clean up, and, well, things still seemed to be awkward between TK's divorced parents. With Tai and Ms. Takashi tidying the kitchen, she and TK were alone together, lounging in the den. Kari was expecting Davis to protest as he left, but for once the new leader seemed fine with them together. It was great to see.

She remembered when Ta first introduced her to the Davis. He had been some underclass kid on Tai's soccer team. The boy just seemed so happy to be with Tai, and then to be with her. No one had ever been as nice to her as he was then. How could she not appreciate that? They were friends almost immediately. They still were friends now, but ever since TK returned...

"I wish I was the leader." Kari lamented inside.

Could she put a stop their fighting then? She didn't know, but she always fleet like it should have been her anyway. She was Tai's sister. Shouldn't that have made her his heir? She knew it was irrational, it's not like they were a royal family or anything, but she just couldn't seem to shake the thought. She knew why Tai had picked Davis over her. If the smartest kid was meant to be the leader it should have been Izzy in the first place, not Tai. Tai had seen his charisma in Davis, the same charisma that he held the group together with three years ago. Heck even applying the logic that says "the smartest one should be the leader" would probably put Yolie in charge of the new group rather than her…

"How do you like the scarf I gave you?" She asked TK as much for herself as him.

Summer would soon start but TK was still warring the scarf. "It's great!" He said. "I don't usually like getting clothes for birthdays, but, somehow, getting one from you seemed to make up for it."

Kari blushed. "Thanks." That made things a lot better.

"You wanna watch a movie?" She asked. "Yolie gave you that space movie didn't she?"

"I don't think we have time." TK said. "There's probably something good on TV though."

"Okay" Kai siad.

As they watched she asked another question.

"What was your favorite gift? It doesn't have to be mine."

"I don't know." TK said. He slipped off the ring Davis gave him and held it up. "It probably ought to be this ring. I didn't expect anything that valuable, especially not from Davis of all people, but it would feel kind of awkward to wear it."

"Why's that?" Kari asked.

"I just don't feel right wearing a betrothal token from another guy," he replied "especially not Davis. I know that's not what it is but still… Do you want it? I know _your_ birthday is in a few weeks. You can think of it as an early present."

That did excite her. "You don't have to do that TK." She said politely.

"I insist." He handed her the ring. "It will look great on you."

"Thanks a lot." Kari said taking the ring. She examined it closely. Black wasn't her color, but she did like the ruby. The fact that it came from TK also seemed to make it nicer. She slipped it on her finger. "I'll wear it tonight."

She heard a chuckle behind her. Turing around they saw Tai.

"We got the kitchen clean." Tai said. "You ready to go?"

"It is getting late." Kari said she turned to TK. "'I'm sorry."

"That's fine." TK said. He showed them to the door. "See you tomorrow at school."

As they began walking home Kari asked a question of her brother. "What was so funny?"

"Nothing." He said "I can't help but think of old times when I see you younger kids, and it's just kind of ironic to me."

"Ironic?" Kari asked. "How so?"

"Maybe that's not the right word." Tai replied. "I just think you and TK remind me a lot of Sora and Matt in the old days."

What did that mean? It made sense for TK to remind people of Matt; they were brothers after all, but what about her was like Sora of all people? She was about to inquire when something… strange happened. Was it this dark a second ago? Okay now it's all bright. Wait what?

She wasn't looking at Tai anymore but at a pair of hands, the right over the ring finger of the left. She felt fingers touching each other. Why… where her hands that big before?

She stepped back and felt her back hit a wall… was she in a bathroom? That was very much what it looked like. What? Wasn't she outside? Yep she was defiantly in a bathroom now, there was a toilet to her left and a shower to her right. Was that Davis in front of her…? Davis what… was that a sink? Was that… a mirror…. Oh god… it couldn't be.

"Da.. Davis?" She said. "Is that you?"

The boy in the mirror mimicked her mouth movements. She heard a voice that couldn't possibly be hers…. She stepped forward and touched her hand to the mirror. The boy in the mirror touched his hand to hers. She felt glass against… her hand.

"Oh god."

She saw the mouth in the mirror begin to open… then it was dark again.

"Davis!"

A split second later she saw an older girl standing over her. She felt her back on the wall and her legs on the floor.

"Davis!" The girl shouted.

"I.." Kari stuttered. "I.. what's happening?"

"I heard you screaming and came to see you on the floor." The girl said. "What's wrong?"

"Daisuke, Jun what's going on?"

Kari looked over and saw two adults standing in the doorway. Were they Davis's parents? Wasn't that girl his sister? Yes, Jun, that was her name… why are they here… why had she called her "Davis?" Oh god.

"I… I'm him." She said… "I'm Davis."

"Dais… Davis what's wrong?" Mrs Motomiya asked.

"I… can I be alone?"

It was several minutes before they actually left her alone… They kept asking her questions "What happened?" "What's wrong?" "Why did you scream?" What could she possibly tell them? "I'm not your son I'm his best friend's sister and I just arrived in his body?" They would never believe that. She kept assuring them she was fine. She was physically… wasn't she? Eventually she decided to say she had seen a big spider. That didn't seem to satisfy her new family but they stopped asking questions. Had they just realized questions weren't going anywhere? They left, but Kari suspected they would be back.

She stepped out of the bathroom. Was this Davis's room? She saw a blue mass emerge from beneath the bed… DemiVeemon.

"What just happened? He asked.

More questions.

"I'm as lost as you are." She said. "Can we please not talk about it?"

The tiny dragon frowned. "All right." He said. He looked over at the door. "Can you close that? They might see me."

After hearing their son scream and seeing him faint Kari doubted Davis's parents would want a door blocking their view of him… crap could they see them now!? She looked through door and saw no one…

"Could… could you hide under the bed some more?" Kari asked

The digimon did so nodding.

His new partner sat down. "Calm down." She thought. "Let's think this through…"

Was there any rational explanation for what happened? What was she doing before? Walking home with Tai? Was there anything there that explained why she became Davis… no… Hang on, if she was Davis who was he? Was he her? How could that be? What was the alternative? If Davis wasn't her then where was he? Had she possessed him or something? How would that hap…

She ran back to the mirror.

"Davis if you're in here I'm sorry." She cried at the glass. "I… I didn't mean to steal your body, honest. I'll give it back… once I figure out how."

She tired thinking about leaving this body…. That didn't work. Could she move her spirit like moving a body part? She stuck out her tongue… how did that apply to spirits? …If she was a spirit what did that mean for her body?

"I'm so so sorry." She said again.

What now?

"I need to know what happened." The current googlehead thought… she needed to see her body. If nothing else that would tell her whether she had switched would Davis or possessed him or something else. It would tell her the "something else" option right? Would it actually explain what that something else was? Would it actually explain any of the above? "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Could she get to her old house from here? She knew the way… no, the Motomiyas would never let their son walk several blocks after seeing him faint. What else could she do… telephone. Was there a telephone in here? Her eyes darted frantically…

"YES A PHONE!" She blurted out seeing one. "Okay clam down…"

She walked up to the phone and dialed her own number.

"If no one picks up they're fretting over my dead body."

The phone rang several times…

"Kamiya residence."

Kari recognized her mother's voice.

"Hello," She replied. "Is… Kari there?"

"Oh hi, Davis." Mrs. Kamiya said, apparently recognizing her new voice. "Kari isn't back from the party yet. I can take a message."

What should she say? "Actually I am Kari" Would her mother believe it? Would Kari believe it herself if wasn't happening to her? She didn't think she would.

"Just have her call me back when she gets home."

"Okay Davis," her former mother said. "See you later." She hung up.

Well… she wasn't dead right? Wait… she was walking home when this happened. Would mom know if her body was okay? Kari tried dialing her own cell phone… no response…. That wasn't a good sign.

She sat down and waited. How long would it take her to get home from TK's? Maybe 15 minutes? Okay. If Davis were in her body would he just walk home casually with Tai? How would he react to becoming her? How would Tai react to that?

She sat down and waited. It was all she could do…

What would she do if the call didn't come?

"I'll go to the hospital." Kari thought. That's were Tai would take her body if something were wrong with it. Surely she could convince the Motomiyas to take "Davis" there after he fainted… how long should she wait? …Thirty minutes. That allowed Davis freak out time before heading back to her house…

"Yes that will work."

She sat anxiously…

Twenty minutes later the phone rang. Kari picked it up as fast as she could. Absolutely no one else could pick it up.

"Davis, please tell me that's you!" She pleaded into the phone.

The reply was a weak "Yes… are you… Kari?"

It was how her voice sounded in recordings.

"Yes…" She said… they had switched. "Are you okay?"

"Well… I think so." The reply sounded confused. "Does the body switch count as not okay?"

"That's an excellent question." Kari responded "Do you have any idea how it happened?"

"Not a clue." The former gogglehead spoke. "I just finished washing my hands then I'm walking outside with Tai."

"Did you try to convince anyone who you were?" Kari asked.

"Tai thought it was a weird prank." Davis said. "I didn't bother with your parents. You think they would believe it?"

She didn't.

"You can try." Kari said. "You think anyone in your family would believe it?"

"Not in a million years." Her own voice replied.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Maybe it we'll switch back as suddenly as we switched in the first place" Davis suggested.

"Is that how it works?" Kari asked.

"It does in the movies." Davis said. "Usually after the switched people learn some new lesson about each other."

Was this really all they had to go on…

"Are you suggesting we just live out each other's lives and not tell anyone?" She asked. "That's also what happens in the movies."

"What would you suggest instead of that?"

She really didn't have a better idea…

"Just meet me before school tomorrow so we can trade locks and schedules." Kari said. It was the first complication she thought of. "If I can think of a better plan before then I'll call you."

"Okay." Davis said. "Anything else?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something before tomorrow." Kari said. "But for now I guess see you then."

"See you then." Davis said hanging up.

Kari hung up the phone… in the corner her eyes she saw the bathroom mirror though the open door… and Davis right then.

"I'll be seeing you a lot before then won't I?" She thought… looking in the bathroom she realized something else..

"Oh god." Kari thought. "I have to pee."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Davis looked at himself in the mirror… was it "himself" anymore? He was Kari. He was… a girl.

He hadn't realized it at first. He'd just assumed TK was talking with Tai when he first landed in Kari's body. His idol had been staring at him waiting for a response. A simply "never mind" was enough and then they were walking… toward Tai's house. Then he received a call on Kari's cell phone… which was among her clothes… next to her pink digivice… it took all of his will power to walk "home" with a straight face. Tai's mother had told him "Davis" had called. He went straight up to her room to reply. Now…

He groaned at the mirror. "At least I'm not looking at TK."

Somehow he liked seeing the image of Kari saying those words.

"Davis I love you." "Kari" went on to say. "TK sucks. You're the only man for me, the most handsome man I know."

Yes that did please him. He moved his lips in to kiss her… His lips met with the glass…

Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

"What do I do now?" The former googelhead thought. "Is is possible to keep to the plan? No, even if I can get TK to wear the ring Kari will know about the switching, I won't be able to make her think I'm TK."

"Damn it TK." He growled. "Why didn't you wear my ring?"

Seeing Kari speak those words displeased him.

Davis turned away from the mirror and left Kari's room. He resumed thinking in his new living room.

"Can I at least forget it and switch back in 24 hours? Will she still be wearing the ring in 24 hours?"

It wouldn't matter, he quickly realized. Even if Kari didn't take off the ring she would have to move the jewel for it to work…

"I should have told her about the ring." He thought. The thought of telling her the truth scared him both now and before. Part of the truth afterall, was what he had planned to do with her and TK. When he spoke with Kari on the phone he lied impulsively, and now, because of that he couldn't tell the truth. Even if he did not reveal his original plans he'd still have to tell her he lied over the phone. He really did not want to do that… but how could he avoid it now? He thought…

"I'll just tell her I 'figured out' the ring might be involved." Yes that would work… in fact he really liked it. He'd come to her after the 24 hours were over and remark how the jewels used to be the other way then 'discover' their power with her as they switched back. He'd have to share the power with her then, but the more he thought about that the more he liked it too. Surely they could bond over that, an amazing power only they knew about. It was how the digidestined had bonded afterall… he'd just have to keep the others out of it, especially TK…

What about Veemon?

The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. Veemon would attempt to take the ring and put it on his own finger when the 24 hours were over. How would Kari react to that? He had to stop it! Could he just tell Veemon not to? How? Call Kari in his body and ask to speak with DemiVeemon? No, that wouldn't work, not after he'd told Kari they should pretend to be each other…

He began pacing up and down the living room floor. After several minutes an escape route still hadn't occurred to him…

He heard a voice behind him. "You okay partner?" it said.

The pacer turned around and saw Gatomon behind him…

"Oh I'm fine." He said. 'I'm just um… taking a walk." It was immediately obvious just how unconvincing it was.

"Indoors?" Gatomon asked.

"Yes." He ran with it.

He cat stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decide what she thought, but then her eyes focused on Kari's hand…

"That ring…" She started. "Where did you get it?"

This could not end well…

"I… TK gave it to me." Could telling the truth work? That was the truth right? "What about it?"

"Oh… I'm sorry." She replied. "For a second that looked like my old tail ring… I guess I just really miss it."

"I'll um, ask TK were he got it next time I see him." Davis replied.

"Thank you Kari." The white cat said smiling very wide. "I'd really love that." She turned and began to walk away.

"I just told her I'd try to get her a ring like this!" Davis thought as she left. "At least I know I was right not telling Kari anything."

This lie seemed to have worked out though. Gatomon looked as though she had forgotten all about her current partner's bizarre behavior. What had that "tail ring" meant to her that a replacement would take over her thoughts like that? Davis decided to count his blessings and not press it. Still… it showed he needed to act more like Kari, if only for the next 24 hours. He couldn't attract more attention than necessary… What would Kari do in her own living room? He looked around and saw a GameCube hooked to the TV… that would work well.

He did not have this consel in his original body. He turned it on along with the TV. Super Smash Brothers Melee came on. "Cool" Davis thought picking up the controller. He did not have this consel at his own house but he had played it many times insisting Tai. "Time to check out singe-player." By the time he reached Master Hand he had almost forgotten where he was.

When the hand died Davis could swear he heard the sound of clapping behind him. He turned around… and saw Tai there.

"Congrats sis." He said. "I haven't seen you play smash in a long time, any special occasion?"

"Uh.. none." "Kari" replied. "I just want to play smash… that's okay right?"

"Of course," Tai said. "that's why the consel's in the living room. I just havn't seen you do it in a while… I was actually coming to collect some more trophies."

"I wouldn't dream of keeping you from it." Davis said those words without hesitation. He began to hand Tai the controller… but then saw him reach for another.

"You wanna do two player?" Tai asked. "Smash is better for that anyway."

Davis smiled. "I'd love that." He said.

The first battle was very different than most Davis had played with Tai before. They were both using their usual characters; Tai Marth and Davis Roy, but somehow Marth was taking a lot more damage than usual. It wasn't until he had almost won that that Roy's controller realized Marth's had been holding back. As his victory scene played Davis looked over and saw Tai in disbelief….

"What have I done?" Davis thought. He should have realized Kari would lose if she hardly played the game! Now Tai would be suspicious and… wait… was he smiling?

"Wow Kari." He said. "I don't know what's gotten into you but it's awesome!"

They continued to play for several more matches. Tai won most of them, more than normal Davis felt, but yet he also felt as though he were having more fun than he'd ever had playing this game. Somehow he felt Tai was too.

Eventually Tai's mom came claiming it was midnight and that Kari should be in bed. At first Davis didn't believe her… but the clock seemed to back her up…

"Can… we have a few more minutes?" Tai asked. Davis really hoped she would say yes…"

"You know better Tai." Mrs. Kamiya said. "Both of you have school tomorrow."

That seemed to be enough to silence him… within minutes Davis was back in Kari's room escorted by her mother. Gatomon was there to greet both of them.

"Hey Mrs. Kamiya." The digimon said. "Time for Kari's catnap?"

She laughed. "Yes it is," and reached down and the white cat. Gatomon purred in delight.

"Veemon would die for my mother to do that." Davis thought. "This must be what's it's like to be one of the first digidestined… wait I forgot about Veemon! "

Wait…

A devilish idea came to him… no, surely that couldn't be done anyway… then as his new mother left, he recalled how Gatomon had reacted to seeing the ring…

"You know this means you'll be stuck here at least another day right?" He could hear himself thinking. The reply was. "Is that such a bad thing?" Could he do it? Would Veemon be okay with this? "Didn't he say he wanted us to go together?"

He slipped off the ring and slid the jewel. "Hey Gatomon," he said. "You wanna borrow this?"


	3. Free at Last

Chapter 3: Free at Last

POV order: Veemon - Davis – Veemon - Kari

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

As usual, the sound of Davis's alarm woke DemiVeemon along with his partner. It always annoyed him; for a creature that needed as much sleep as him that was a given. Perhaps for that reason the first thing he noticed was how much longer it seemed to beep now that usual. Sticking his head out from beneath the mattress, the dragonspawn saw his partner's body fumbling around for the alarm. Did he not remember where it was?

"Of course he doesn't" DemiVeemon thought

Briefly as he'd been up, the blue dragon was not sure he'd remembered the events of yesterday before now or not. Whether he did before or not, he did now.

Davis' body eventually found the alarm and turned it off, freeing both of them from its annoying beeps. Looking that body up and down DemiVeemon noticed that TK was wearing the same skin he'd been wearing the day before, rather than the "pajamas" Davis usually wore to bed.

"Weird," he thought again "Why is TK digivoling funny?" Going through his memory again the digimon was positive that he had acquired the same new form Davis always did when he passed through the digiport the other day, and that Davis dadvanced up to Flamedramon and back as he normally did in his body. Could the rules of digivolution vary for the same body depending on who was in it? The tiny dragon knew he didn't understand the rules, nor did even the likes of Yolie or that Izzy genius he sometimes saw...

"What is that smell?"

Whatever it was it derailed any train of thought DemiVeemon had been on. He darted out from beneath the bed trying to get away from it. TK seemed to have seen him do it.

"Um, hello?" He said.

"Hello."

They stared at eachother in awkward silence.

"Um... I... how did you sleep?" TK asked, seemingly trying to be polite.

"Well enough." DemiVeemon replied.

There was another awkward silence. DemiVeemon realized if he had barely remembered what had happened the last two days as he woke up there was no way TK did. The dragonspawn felt even he as a digimon would have been surprised to wake up in an unfamiliar form. If Davis's reactions the other day were any indicator, humans would be even more surprised... For a moment he felt kind of sorry for him... but only for a minute. He didn't know much about this human, but his partner's dislike of him was enough to make the digimon distrust him. Add to that the knowledge that he was Patamon's partner and the sympathy melted away... didn't it?

"Of course it does." He thought to himself.

TK got out of bed. DemiVeemon could tell the smell was coming from him as he stepped forward... it took a lot of restraint not to step back.

"Um, I'm going to school now." The smelly human said.

He searched a bit for Davis's back pack. Upon finding it, he walked straight out of the room stopping only to say "Goodbye" as he shut the door behind him.

"Wait... what?" DemiVeemon said aloud.

Davis had gone to school almost every day since the blue dragon had met him. The first night, following the day Cody and Yolie met Hawkmon and Armadillomon, he spent in the digital world. The day after that was the first time Davis took him to school. He still remembered how exited he'd been to see the human world through the hole in his bag. Apparently he'd made a sound or two that had gotten weird looks directed at Davis as the day went by, followed by whispers from his partner to keep quiet. The third day Davis had left him behind. It was the only time he ever did that. DemiVeemon still remembered the look of shame his partner had that afternoon. There were times after that he'd left Veemon alone in the room, but never for long... never all day. TK, it seems had.

Perhaps he still pitied the boy somewhere. The thought disgusted him.

He didn't have much time to think about it before he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Davis' mom was no doubt coming this way. DemiVeemon knew the drill. He hid once again beneath the bed where she could not see him if she came in. The dragonspawn realized too late the smell was much stronger down there. He almost darted out from under it again, but restrained himself as he heard the door open. He turned so that his line of sight went across the floor, out the gap between the mattress and ground and toward the outside door. He saw what he knew by now were Mrs Motomiya's feet, and with them... Davis's? Had TK come back for him? The raised tone of the mother's voice quickly revealed otherwise.

"Daisuke, no! You're cleaning yourself now." She said.

"Mrs... Mom, I can't" TK begged back at her. "I really can't."

"You're not going out like that." She said. "No, I can't even let you stay home like that that. You're showering now."

The human continued to protest, but Davis' feet moved to the bathroom along with those of his mother. Turning himself again he saw the bathroom door close in front of those borrowed feet, behind Mrs Motomiya's.

Another moment of awkward silence followed that.

"Son, please." The mother's voice eventually came. "You're worrying me... almost scaring me. You haven't done this in years, and after what happened last night..."

"It's okay." Davis' voice came cutting her off. "I'm fine. I… will do it. I'm sorry." He paused for a moment "I'm really, really, really sorry."

The sound of running water came after that. Mrs Motomiya listened to it for a moment, then walked toward the bed. He heard the rustling above of her removing the sheets; she walked away with them, the smell gone.

"That's a releif." He thought.

Davis' mom returned quickly and replaced the sheets. She walked back up to the bathroom door then and waited for the running water to stop. When the door opened DemiVeemon saw his partner's shed skin in a pile behind his feet and Mrs Motomiya's.

The mother picked up her son's shed skin. DemiVeemon could see the ring behind them, though apparently neither of the current Motomioya's noticed it, as their conversation resumed.

"Son," the mother said again. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No." TK replied. "I don't, really."

'I don't know that I believe you. Honestly, I want to take you to the emergency room now."

"Please don't." TK replied "I... I really need to get to school today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes very... I ah have a test today, first period."

Mrs. Motomiya sighed. She clearly didn't know how to respond to this either.

"Alright," she finally said. "But I'm getting you an appointment while we're out."

"Thank you... mom."

They left the room; after a while it was clear neither of them were coming back this time.

"So much for TK coming back for me." DemiVeemon lamented.

He turned himself to glance at both doors. Both of them were open. That stung. When the door was closed he could wander the room, but if the door were closed it meant he had to stay under the bed. In this case, it meant he had to stay under the bed the whole school day. He was traped year until TK came back.

"Story of my life eh?" He thought.

Veemon, in this life at least, was born beneath Digi-Egg of Courage. He had formed with it, after Apocolymon had died and the digital world was reformed. He didn't know that at the time though. All he knew then was that he had to wait there, all by himself in a small dark space, wait there for his partner to come and free him. The older digidestined had told him he had waited there for three years.

DemiVeemon did not know how long three years was. He knew what a day was. He hadn't seen the sun of this world rise or set, and he had seen the sun of the digital world rise and set exactly once; those events meant little to him. He knew a day as the amount of time between Davis leaving for school each morning. He had a really good feel by now of how long that was. Apparently a year was three hundred and sixty five days, not that he knew how many "three hundred and sixty five" was. "Seven" was about as big a number as he could grasp; apparently it was the amount of days in a week, the time between days Davis did not have to go to school. The blue dragons cherished that "Sunday" that came every week, and yet for the longest time he could never tell when another one was coming. He still remembered that first time Dais tried to count to seven for him on his fingers… the dragonswan could only follow him up to two with his stubby fingerless arms… It took him many weeks to finally get a feel for how long seven days was.

At least he knew exactly how long it would be before TK came back to free him. Like several times before when Dais was away he told himself he wouldn't be confined for long. It would never be as long a wait as his early life had been.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Davis woke up peacefully for the first time in months. At first he did not even realize it, assuming this another lucid dream. The only thing that seemed out of place about it was the location.

"Where have I seen this place before?" He thought.

It was when he saw Gatomon sleeping in the corner that he recalled exactly where.

"Kari's room." Davis thought. "Where have I seen…"

The black ring on Gatomon's tail reminded him exactly where… and how.

He looked himself over and saw he was Kari's night gown rather than his own pajamas. He touched his hand to his face… both felt smoother than his own ever had. He rushed over to the window and cold barely make out his reflection in the rising sunlight… Kari's reflection.

"I'm not dreaming." Was all he could say. Somehow it still felt as though he was.

He went downstairs and saw Tai's mother making breakfast. "Morning Kari!" She said.

"Morning… uh… mom." He replied.

"It's almost ready." Mrs. Kamiya said. "I haven't seen your brother yet. Did you forget to wake him?"

"My brother?" Davis mumbled. "I don't… wait…"

It was Tai. Obviously she was talking about Tai. Tai… was his brother.

"You alright honey?" Tai's mother asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." He responded. "I'll go wake him up."

He was upstairs before she could respond. Awkward conservations would bother him even in his own body. To have one here…

He knew the way to Tai's room from the stairway already. The bedroom door was open when he got there. He walked in to find his idol sleeping on his bed…

He slowly reached out his hand and touched him. "Um, hello Tai. Wake up…" Did he dare say it? "Big brother."

"Wha… oh." Tai's voice came. "Morning sis."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"7:04"

That was the reading DemiVeemon saw on the clock. Davis had told him to use the ring at 7:05, the time he had switched. As much as "7:0" confused him, he knew 4 came right before 5… the time was finally drawing near.

It couldn't have come soon enough. The school day suck beneath the bed had been bad enough had it not been almost dark by the time TK came up to the room and closed the door. The boy apologized when he complained about it. As much as he disliked TK he couldn't blame him. Judging from how long he'd stay downstairs and how eagerly he'd gone down again for dinner, the digimon got the impression he was uncomfortable being in Davis' room. At least he remembered to close the door the time.

"7:05"

It was time. Once again he crawled under the bed, this time to drag out the coffee cup. He slurped everything left in there down in on gulp…. Much to the chagrin of his taste buds…

"At least last time it was hot…"

On the positive side it filled him with energy almost immediately. He suspected digimon digested more quickly than humans, and given his size, he digested more quickly than most digimon. By the time the clock read 7:08 digivolution was upon him.

"DemiVeemon digivolve to Veemon!"

He crawled under the bed one final time and slid toward the ring… or at least tried too. His larger form quickly got stuck between the floor and the mattress.

"Oh come on!" He yelled stretching his hand out as far as he could 'Come on… yes!" His fingers barely grasp the ring and pull it toward him. With the ring firmly in his grasp he tried to crawl out from under the bed…. But was still stuck.

'Whatever, it's Patamon's problem!" He thought.

He then slipped on the ring.

For a brief second it was dark, then Veemon found himself in a room he did not recognize.

"TK's?" He questioned internally.

He stood up. "Good to be unstuck" He thought. Trying to walk around however, he immediately fell over.

"I should have expected that… Patamon walks on four legs when he's not flying."

He stood on four legs this time and took a few steps forward. He could walk around again. But of course that was nothing next to the real prize… flight.

The dragonspawn had flown before, but only in his dreams. Ever since he had first seen Patamon fly around that first night after he had been free, he had envied him.

He began to flap his ears hoping to get airborne as he'd seen his rival do… nothing happened…. Wait a minute… this wasn't what he'd expected Patamon's ears to feel like. The felt short and curved instead of long and narrow… if anything they felt… catlike…. Wait a minute…

Veemon took a good look down at himself…. Instead of Patamon's yellow flesh he saw white fur and gloved catlike paws. He wasn't Patamon… he was… Gatomon.

The door opened before he could react. In the precipice he saw Kari… "Hey Veemon." She said.

"Davis?" the former dragon asked in response.

"The one and only."

'What happened? Why are we Kari and Gatomon? Weren't we supposed to be TK and Patamon?"

"Yeah, I had to scrap that plan." Davis replied. "Birthday boy apparently decided to give Kari the ring before I got home to put mine on. I found myself in her body and thought, hey, you said you wanted us to go together."

"I wanted to date Gatomon not be her!" Veemon said. "I wanted to be Patamon… I wanted to fly."

Davis pulled out Kari's digivice. "You still can fly partner. We're going to the digital world tomorrow. You can fight as Nefertimon!"

That was intriguing…

"As far as dating her… I was upset about that with Kari too at first, but the more I thought about it it, the more I realized this was the best thing that could have happened to us on that front. We might not be able to make them hate TK and Patamon any more, but we can do better! This is the perfect opportunity to bond with them. How could you ever get to know someone better than literally walking in their shoes!"

"I don't think Gatomon has shoes."

It took a few minutes to explain he idiom.

"Kari, dinner's ready!" came a voice from behind them.

"Thanks mom!" Davis responded, turning around. "I'll be down in a second."

A human around the size of Davis's mother came into view. Veemon instinctively began to back away in fear she could see him. The strange human however turned and looked right at him. "We're having fish again. I know it's your favorite." She said.

"No good!" Veemon thought. In the surprise of the switch he had apparently let his guard down and been seen. "You okay Gatomon?" she continued.

"Of course she's okay mom." Davis interjected. "You've know each other for years now. Isn't that right Gatomon?" Davis turned to his partner as he said that.

It was then that Veemon realized just what that meant.

"Yeah." He said "I'm better than okay."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kari found the most peculiar sight returning to Davis' room after dinner. Sticking out from under his bed was a small blue torso…. apparently Veemon's. She approached trying to make sense of it.

Whoever was the dragon's body seemed to notice Kari come in. They looked up at her and spoke. "What's going on? What is this place? Why am I blue?"

"You aren't Veemon are you?" Kari replied.

"Veemon… no. I'm Gatomon."

So it was true… "I'm not Davis either; I'm Kari." She replied.

"Whoever you are, can you get me out from under here?" Her partner asked.

Kari lifted up the bed a bit. It didn't budge much, but it was a enough to free the trapped digimon.

"Thanks," it said looking up at her. "Are you sure you're Kari?" She said "You look a lot like Davis to me."

"You look a lot like Veemon to me." Kari replied.

It was then that Gatomon looked down at her new body, no doubt seeing it in full for the first time. The look of shock on its face was apparent.

"Wha… what happened to us?"

"We seem to have switched bodies with Davis and Veemon." Kari replied. "I talked to Davis on the phone last night and met him in school today in my body. I'm assuming Veemon is in your right now."

"I see." Gatomon said. "Do you know how this happened?"

"I don't know." Kari was about to reply when she noticed the ring on Gatomon's finger... "That ring... I was wearing it when I got up… when I wound up in this body." She said.

"When you wound up in this body?" Her partner asked. "When was that? I just got here."

"Last night, as I was coming home from TK's party." She answered. She stuttered before continuing… "The party where he gave TK a ring exactly like that one…"

Gatomon looked down at the ring on her new hand, and her eyes widened.

"Your body… Davis, was wearing a ring like this when he came home." She replied "I asked him where he got it and he said TK gave it to him…. He let me borrow it because it looked like my tail ring."

"And now you're wearing the ring as Veemon." It was true. "The ring must have been what switched us!"

Kari immediately went for the phone.

"What are you doing?" Her partner asked.

"Calling Davis." The current goggle head replied. "We need to talk to him about this." Her thoughts were running wild with possible conversation points. Most of them pertaining to wear Davis found the ring and if they could use them to switch back.

After a brief relay by her father, the former goggle head was on the phone.

"I… take it you're calling about Gatomon and Veemon." He asked.

"Yes actually.' Kari replied. "But there's more. Davis, I think that ring you gave TK is responsible for all this."

"What are you talking about?"

"Gatomon was wearing it before the switch, and now she's warring one just like it as Veemon. We were both wearing them too when we switched."

"I don't know." Davis replied. "Can a ring do that?"

"Probably not." Kari said. "But I can't think of anything that really could and this is the best lead we've got. You have to tell me, where did you get these rings?"

"I… don't… um… remember."

'What!?" Kari half-shouted "What do you mean you don't remember? "

"I guess I just forgot…."

"You have to remember something. Did you find them? Buy them? What?"

"I bought them…. at a store somewhere? I couldn't tell you the name of the place."

Kari was awestruck. "Do you at least remember where you got them… like the general location?"

Davis "I think it was in the mall…. Maybe. Does that count?"

That was a start….

"How can you not remember where you bought a jeweled ring? Kari asked

"Jewelry isn't something I'm normally interested in."

"Kari," Gatomon interrupted. "Is it possible for me to speak with Veemon?"

The chosen sighed. 'Davis," She asked. "Gatomon would like to speak with Veemon. Can you put him on the phone."

"I'm not sure Veemon knows how to handle a phone." He responded. "But I can try."

After a few minutes of engineering Kari could hear Veemon's now catlike purr coming through the phone.

"Hi Kari!" He said. "I told Davis to hold the phone up to my head for me."

She handed it over to her partner.

"Veemon," she asked "when did you put on this ring?"

Leaning in toward the speaker Kari could just barely hear his response.

"Before I went to sleep. I thought it looked pretty and tried it on. When I woke up I was you."

"So we switched while sleeping…." She replied "From what my partner told me she switched with Davis while they were both awake…"

Kari heard her own voice then "How much were you going to ask him? Holding the phone like this is awkward."

"It's okay Davis." Gatomon said. "That was the main thing I wanted to ask. You can talk to Kari again now if you'd like."

Davis agreed, and talk quickly resumed between Kari and him…. not that much of substance was said. Most of it was Kari asking Davis questions he didn't have an answer to. Eventually Kari hanged up in frustration.

Kari looked up and saw her partner looking back under the bed.

"Coffee." She said. "Veemon was drinking coffee before the switch."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a coffee pot under here, like the one your dad drinks from." Gatomon replied. Kari looked under the bed and saw it there too. "I spent the last several minutes staring at it before you rescued me."

"That's bizarre…" She said.

"Veemon told me we swapped while he was sleeping." Gatomon continued. "How do you sleep while drinking coffee?"

"I don't know." Kari responded.

"Doesn't this all seem suspicious to you?" her partner added. "That they couldn't remember where they got these rings."

"Suspicious? Are you saying they're lying?" Kari asked. "That doesn't make sense… unless… unless they switched with us on purpose and don't want us to know."

The ramifications of that immediately came to her, and made her skin crawl.

"No way." Kari continued. "No way Davis would do that."

"Then explain the coffee." Gatomon replied.

"Davis is an idiot and Veemon is even dumber, there's no way he knows what coffee is." Her partner replied. "He probably drank it before he went to bed not knowing the difference between it and water."

It was then that she remembered Veemon spent most of his time as DemiVeemon.

"Heck, that explains how you got stuck." Kari went on. "Stuff you eat and drink takes a minute to have an effect. He must have gone to sleep under the bed as DemiVeemon, then when the caffeine took effect it woke you up as Veemon."

"I guess." Gatomon said. "It still seems kinda unlikely to me."

"I can't help but think Davis stealing our bodies is even less likely." Kari said "Do you really think Veemon would do that?"

"I don't… think so?" Gatomon said. "I guess you must be right."

"I really hope I am." Kari thought. "I have to be, Davis is my friend. He would never do that to me… would he?"


End file.
